Novartis to produce smart contact lens

A new idea of integrating technology into healthcare and facilitating personal health monitoring has struck the business developers at Novartis. The Swiss pharmaceutical company has approached Google with the idea and proposed that the American organisation develop the product. In fact, an agreement to develop smart contact lens has already been struck between Google and Novartis. The lenses will help aging people restore the ability of their eyes to focus and enable patients of diabetes track the level of sugar in their blood. Separate pairs of lenses are expected to be made for tracking blood-sugar in diabetics and restoration of focus of aging people.

The pair of lenses for diabetics will be capable of measuring glucose in the tear and sending the data wirelessly to a synchronised mobile device, according to Novartis. The technology has the potential to change the way diabetics live, pricking their fingers about 10 times daily in order to check the level of sugar their blood. Success in this venture will enable Novartis gain an edge in the global market of blood-sugar tracking, which is expected to be greater than $12 billion in worth by 2017, according to GlobalData. About 382 million people are afflicted by diabetes worldwide. The figures alone reveal the size of the market.

The second approach of Novartis is aimed at presbyopia, which is the condition of trouble in focusing on closer objects. It occurs typically with aging. The company hopes that Google will be able to develop the contact lens technology for it that will help people restore their ability to focus. The technology has been exemplified with autofocus technology in contemporary cameras. The contact lens will feature non-invasive microchips, sensors and other miniature electronics embedded to them. Undoubtedly, the idea demands very high level innovation, precision, technological infrastructure and research.

The deal encompasses that Alcon, which is the eye care unit of Novartis, will further develop the contact lens technology with Google, according to the development team at the company. Whenever it becomes reality, it is going to be a completely commercial product. The financial details pertaining to the deal have not been discussed by either company. The alliance of Google and Novartis, the 2 prominent names in their respective domains, is one of the results of exploration of technology to integrated technology into healthcare sector. Medical science has been active adopter of cotemporary technologies for the facilitation of convenient and easy health and fitness monitoring.

The development of such technologically advanced devices will lower the cost of chronic disease management for the patients. In addition to pharmaceutical companies, computing technology organisations such as Google, Samsung Electronics, Apple, etc. are trying to integrated health-care applications with wearable devices. According to Joe Jimenez, the contact lens for diabetics and those for poor focus can be expected to be released within next 5 years. The coming together of high technology and biology is indeed an exciting combination. The pace at which technology develops indicates that it will contribute much more to the medical science industry in the future.

Author Bio: Tony Rollan is working with VSI company (http://www.patternless.com/) and he is an author of many articles on all types of optical and ophthalmic equipment. Author talks about medicine, health, alternative healing, well being, sport the ophthalmic equipment.